Hot Topics:

Should a congressman follow conscience or constituency?

JOEL OGLE

Updated:
11/16/2012 12:56:34 PM EST

Americans elect their legislators with the belief that they best represent who they are. Not everyone can agree to one individual; that is the beauty of our democracy. But the one thing that each of us can hope for is that our legislators can best represent our thoughts, morals and values.

The way in which a legislator comes to a decision can be swayed by many others -- lobbyist, public opinion, staffers, friends and constituents. All these individuals can hold solid ground in a legislator's decision but ultimately the decision is reflected through one of two different ideas. These ideas or spheres of thinking are not constant through any legislator's administration but both exist in their minds at all times.

One sphere is based solely on what the constituent wants: "Should I vote for or against legislation based on beliefs my constituents have." The other is based on the idea that our legislators are our consultants to the chamber we elect them to. For instance, instead of the legislator deciding on whether he hopes his constituents would agree with him, he does it out of the knowledge that he has been elected based on his thoughts, morals and values.

Which side you believe is, of course, your own personal opinion. Rarely do individuals think about this when raising concerns about an issue or position that the legislator takes. We take for granted that the legislator should be looking out for just me or individuals that think closely to my way of thinking. Just because the legislator has an R or D behind his or her name does not always suit the person's exact path of thinking.

Advertisement

Let's take these two theories and place them into practice for a member of Congress, maybe our newest member, Congressman-elect Scott Perry.

The soon-to-be congressman holds conservative values with the belief that a strong economy and smaller government is the key to our success as a nation. It seems many constituents in the new 4th Congressional District have the same beliefs and elected him to Congress.

If we are looking through the spectrum of the first sphere of thinking that our congressman should vote directly in line with our beliefs, the question is which constituent's beliefs should he listen to? The 4th District is one of the most diverse districts in Pennsylvania. Mr. Perry will be representing Harrisburg and York city, rural parts of Adams and York counties and everything else in between. Comparing the thoughts of people that live next door to each other is hard enough let alone someone in Harrisburg city to an individual in Delta. To expect one man to vote solely on the discretion of his constituents is naive.

We must assume that Mr. Perry will vote and work for us based on his personal thoughts, morals and values. We cannot ask for much more than that. If a tough decision comes his way we can be sure he will have a justifiable answer to why he did or did not support a topic. His discretion as a lawmaker is one of the main reasons we elected him.

What we must focus on is how we hope and know that Mr. Perry will vote with a passion and understanding that the decisions he makes in Washington will reflect us, the 4th Congressional District.

We are sending a man with a strong professional, military and personal background to a place where many of us complain there are not enough of these individuals. I know as a voter of the 4th District I was happy to tab Mr. Perry for Congress and thank those who ran against him for such a respectable race.

The voters need to understand that the man they voted for this past election might not always vote exactly how we want him to. It is impossible for him to please all of us, but the one thing he can do is use his fundamental beliefs to represent us well in Washington.

We have a new congressman taking the oath in January with high expectations. We all wish him well and know that the decisions he makes will be justifiable whether you are for them or against them.